Snow Skills

You can’t shake your tracks; they’re going to follow you everywhere you go in the snow. They can tell you a lot about your turns if you let them: find a stretch of relatively untracked snow and make a series of turns. How do they look? Is each turn a steady C-shape like a half a ball (that’s good) or do you see a J-shape like a fish hook?
Are your turns J-shaped? If your track has a fairly straight arc at the turn’s top half and an obvious hook at the bottom, you’re applying too little edging at the beginning of the turn. The focus should be to start using your edges well above the gravity point (the part of the turn where your gear is facing right down the hill), rather than waiting till after that point to start applying them. Use your edging skills continuously and focus on tipping your skis/board over to the new edge(s) promptly right from the beginning of the turn.
Don’t be decoyed if J-shaped turns are comfortable on easier terrain; a lack of early edging in the turn will ‘bite back’ through a loss of control on steeper terrain and harder snow. The most effective turns in skiing and snowboarding have edging applied steadily through the turn, not solely at the end.

The J-Shape can also be a result of an imbalance in your stance. If you weight the tails too much in the last half of the turn, your edge will break away and the back of your gear will skid down the hill. Stay balanced by staying centered and moving with your gear with flexed legs. Any stiffness or bracing effort in your legs will contribute to a strong emphasis on too much weight toward the rear.

The best turn shape is a C resulting from edging in balance from the turn’s start to finish.